A gastric band (the LAP-Band) is a restrictive band placed around the patient's stomach that gives the sensation of a full stomach after eating smaller portions of food, thus letting the patient eat less and lose weight without going hungry.

But fitting the band requires surgery, with potential side effects - so here's a novel idea: making obese patients believe that they have an "imaginary" gastric band through hypnosis!

A therapist convinced Marion Corns, 35, she had had surgery to fit the band by talking her through the procedure while in a trance.

Hospital smells were even pumped into the room to boost the effect.

Housewife Marion, who has slimmed from 15st 6lb to 11st 7lb, said: “Bizarrely I can even ‘remember’ being wheeled into theatre, the clink of the surgeon’s knife and smell of the anaesthetic.”

She spent £780 on five sessions with a therapist at the Elite Clinic in Marbella after her weight ballooned despite trying numerous diet aids.

Afterwards Marion felt her stomach had tightened and she was full up on just a small portion of food.